Neymar "Fundamental" for Brazil, says Coutinho

Brazil attacker Philippe Coutinho has described his friend and international teammate Neymar as “fundamental” to Brazil’s success. Neymar put in a man of the match display on Thursday as the Seleção trounced Uruguay 4-1 in Montevideo.

Neymar and Coutinho have been friends since childhood and the Liverpool man has been linked with a move to Neymar’s club Barcelona, despite signing a new contract with no clauses in it back in January.

However, when it comes to international football, the two are very much on the same wavelength, “Look, Neymar is outstanding as we can all see," Coutinho said. "He is a player that decides key games, a guy that is fundamental on our team.

"We have been together for a long time, since we played together at youth level. Playing next to him is easy, he can change the game easily. We give the ball to him and he solves the problem!”

Brazil are currently 7 points clear at the top of the CONMEBOL table with a home game against Paraguay in São Paulo on Tuesday night, “Of course, it is really cool to see that everyone is with us," Coutinho said.

"Obviously everyone is following Tite's work -- he is doing a great job. So this just makes us more confident. As you saw in the stadium, there was a lot of positive energy. So it' is really good for us."